Electric station-indicator



(No Model.) 4 SheetsShe'et'1. G. H. KIRWAN. ELECTRIC STATION INDICATOR.

N0..4 89,015. Patented Oct.- 21, 1890.

(No ModeL) 4 sheets sheet 2.. G. H. KIRWAN.

ELEGTRIG STATION INDICATOR.

Patented Oct. 21

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ELECTRIC STATION INDICATOR.

Patented Oct. 21, 1890.

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ELECTRIC STATION INDICATOR. No. 439,015. Patented Oct. 21, 1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE H. KIRl/VAN, OF VVILKES-BARRFI, PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC STATION-INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 439,015, dated October21, 1890.

Application filed January 8, 1890.

To all whom it may concern;

Be itknown that I, GEORGE H. KIRWAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Wilkes-Barre, in the county of Luzerne and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulElectric Station-In dicator,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electric stationindicators; and it is animprovement on the device for which Letters Patent of the United StatesNo. 388,690 were granted to myself on the 28th day of August, 1888.

My present invention has for its object to provide a device which shallpossess superior advantages in point of simplicity,durability, andgeneral efficiency; and with these ends in View it consists in theimproved construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, which willbe hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in theclaims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View showing my improvedstation-indicator in position for operation; the exterior casing beingswung open so as to expose the interior mechanism. Fig. 2 is a top view.Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 2 z in Fig. 2,looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 4 is a vertical transversesectional view taken on the line 00 so in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a verticaltransverse sectional View taken on the line y y in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is anend View looking in the direction indicated by the arrow A in Fig. 3.Fig. 7 is a detail view showing the method of attaching the endlessapron to the rollers. Fig. 8 is a diagram to illustrate the electriccircuits. Fig. 9 is a plan view of the scroll or apron used inconnection with my invention and having the names of the stations.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

1 designates a back board, which supports the operating mechanism of myimproved indicator, and to one end of which, as shown in Fig. 1, ishinged the casing 2, which may be folded over so as to protect the saidoperating mechanism, the free end of said casing being secured by meansof a lock of suitable construction.

To the back board 1, near the ends of the same, are secured the verticalparallel plates Serial No. 336,315. (No model.)

3 and 4, which are provided near their upper and lower front cornerswith bearings for the shafts 5 and 6, in front of and between which arejournaled additional shafts 7 7, carrying the guiding-rollers 8. Theshafts 5 and 6 carry each a drum or cylinder 9, as shown in Fig. 4.

1O designates an endless scroll or apron, upon which the names of thestations are printed or inscribed in the manner to be hereinafterspecified. Each of the drums or cylinders 9 has a fiat or cut-away side10, and is provided with heads 11, in which are journaled the spindles12, extending from the ends of an angular L-shaped cam-plate 13. (SeeFig. 7.) The ends of the scroll or apron 10 are provided with metallicbinding-strips 14, which, when the cam-plates 13 are in a raisedposition, may be inserted under the same. By depressing the free end ofthe cam-plates until they rest upon the cylinders 9 it will thus be seenthat the ends of the scroll may be connected securely and detachably tothe latter.

The upper shaft 5 is provided at one end with a pinion 15, (see Fig. 6,)meshing with a spur-wheel16, which is journaled loosely upon a post 17,which is journaled in the frame piece or plate 4. The post 17 has aratchetwheel 18, engaging a spring actuated pawl 19, which is mountedpivotally upon the spurwheel 16. The opposite end of the shaft 5 has atransverse pin 20, (see Fig. 2,) which is adapted to engage aclutch-collar 21, which is mounted to slide upon the outer end of saidshaft 5, and which is normally forced in an inward direction and intoengagement with the pin 20 by the action of an extensile spring 22,coiled upon the shaft 5 between the said clutch-collar and a flange orcollar 23 upon the extreme outer end of the shaft. The clutch-collar 21carries a spur-wheel 24. 25 (see Figs. 1, 2, and 5) designates a lever,which is pivoted to a bracket 26, that extends laterally from theframe-piece 3. The lower end of the lever 25 has a thumb-piece 27, andits upper end is adapted to bear against the inner side of thespur-wheel 24, which may thus, by operating the lever 25, be moved in anoutward direction upon the shaft 5 against the tension of the spring 22until the clutch collar 21 shall be disengaged from the pin 20, thusdisengaging or uncoupling the spurwheel 24 from the shaft 5.

28 28 designate a pair of posts extending laterally from the frame-piece3 near the upper rear corner of the latter, as shown clearly in Fig. 1,and connected at their outer ends by a frame-piece 29 of suitableconstruction, which, together with the frame-piece 3, aitords bearingsfor the shafts of mechanism which will now be described.

30 is a shaft arranged parallel to the shaft 5 and carrying a pinion 31,meshing with the spur-wheel 24, and also carrying a spur-wheel 32,meshing with a pinion 33 upon a shaft 34. The latter also carries anescapement-fan 35.

Suitably secured upon the outer side of the frame-piece 4, near thelower rear corner of the latter, is a casing 36, having bearings for aspring-arbor 37, (see Figs. 2 and 6,) upon which is coiled the mainspring 38, one end of which is attached to said shaft or arbor, and theother end of which is made fast to one of the posts 39 of the casing 36.The shaft or arbor 37 carries a ratchet-wheel engaging a spring actuatedpawl, which is mounted pivotally upon a spur wheel 42, which is journaled upon the shaft or arbor 37. The spring-actuated spur-wheel 42is connected by means of a train of gearing 43 with a pinion 44, mountedupon the outer end of the shaft 6, which said shaft is thus actuated bymeans of the spring-motor consisting of the parts just enumerated. 45designates a lever, which is mounted pivotally upon the frame-piece 4,and which is provided at its outer end with a handle 46 and at its innerend with a catch 47, adapted to engage the teeth of the pinion 44, andthus prevent the latterfrom rotating. It will thus be seen that thelever 45 acts in the nature of a brake, by means of which theroller-shaft 6 may be prevented from rotating when it shall be desiredto suspend the operation of the device.

The scroll or apron 10 is at the start wound upon the drum or cylinder 9upon the upper roller-shaft 5. The spring-motor when wound serves totransmit motion through the train of gearing 43 and pinion 44 to theshaft 6, carrying the lower drum 9 upon which it will thus be wound,while it is at the same time unwound from the drum 9 upon the upperroller-shaft 5. Motion is thus c'om mu nicated to the latter and fromthence through the spur-wheel 24, pinion 31, spur-wheel 32, and pinion33 to the shaft 34, carrying the escapement-fan 35, by means of whichthe operation of the device is regulated and controlled in the mannerwhich I shall now proceed to describe.

48 designates an electro-magnet which is suitably attached to the backboard 1,which forms the support of the mechanism, as will be best seenin Fig. 1'. The armature 49 of said electro-magnetishinged toa bracket50, and is provided with an arm 51, which extends through an opening 52in the framepiece 3. The inner side of the latter is provided with abracket 53, having bearings for a rock-shaft 54, having anupwardly-extending arm 55, the upper end of which carriesa hammer 56,which is forced in a forward direction by the action of a spring 57,which is attached to the inside of the frame-piece 3. The rock-shaft 54is provided with a rearwardly-extending arm 58, provided at its rear endwith a lateral extension 59, extending through an opening in theframe-piece 3 and lying in the path of the escapement-fan 35. Suitablypivoted to the outer side of the frame-piece 3 is a lever 61, the lowervend of which is adapted to engage the arm 59, so as to throw it out ofthe path of the escapementfan when desired. The lever 61 is alsoprovided with a catch 62, adapted to engage the teeth of the spur-wheel32, so as to lock the latter when desired.

The endless scroll or apron 10 is provided near one of its edges with aseries of perforations 63, registering with the names of the stationsprinted upon the said scroll and adapted to receive the head of thehammer 56, which is adapted to project forwardly through any one of thesaid perforations. A pair of flat loose springs 64 64, slightly curvedin cross-section, are attached to the framepiece 3 above and below thehammer 56, for the purpose of holding the edge of the endless scroll 10in contact with the latter.

Normally the arm 59 of the lever 58, extending from the rock-shaft 54,lies in the path of the escapement-fan, which is thus caused to remainstationary as well as the remainder of the operating mechanism. WVhenthe electro-magnet is momentarily excited,it attracts the armature49,the arm 51 of which depresses the arm 58 of the rock-shaft, said arm58 being provided with a downwardlyextending bracket 65, upon which theinner end of the arm 51 0f the armature rests. The rock-shaft 54 is thusvibrated with the double result of withdrawing the hammer 56 from theperforation 64 in the scroll 10, through which it was extending, andofmoving the arm 59 out of the track of the escapement-fan. The latter isthus caused to rotate under the impulse of the spring-motor, motion fromwhich is transmitted in the manner previously described, thus causingthe roller mounted upon the shaft 9 to rotate and wind upon itself aportion of the endless scroll or apron until the perforation 63,registering with the name of the next station, comes in the path of thehammer 56. The latter, actuated by the spring 57 is now forced throughthe said perforation 64, thus vibrating the rock-shaft 54 with theresult of bringing the arm 59 back into the path of the escapement-fan,thus preventing the latter from rotating and stopping the mechanism fromfurther operation until again actuated under the impulse of theelectro-magnet.

The back board of the casing which supports the operating mechanism ofthe device IIS supporting-board 1.

is provided with binding-posts 66, 67, and 68, and it is provided withthree eyes or perforations 69, 70, and 71, having metallic linings whichare in electrical connection with the said binding-posts. The car inwhich the apparatus is used is provided with metallic hooks or supports69, 7 0, and 71, upon which the apparatus may be hung or suspended bymeans of the eyes or perforations described, and with which they makeelectrical contact.

7 2 designates an electric generating-battery, suitably located in thecar and having one of its poles connected electrically with the metallicsupport 69, and through the lat ter with the binding-post 66. The otherpole of the battery is electrically connected with one of the electrodesof a push-button or circuit-closer 73, the other electrode of which isin electrical connection with the metallic support 7 O, and through thelatter with the binding-post 67. The binding-posts 66 and 67 areconnected with opposite ends of the winding of the electro-magneti50. Itwill thusbe seen that when the push-button 73 is operated to close thecircuit the said electro-magnet is momentarily excited and the actuatingmechanism of the indicator is thrown into operation, as previouslydescribed.

74 designates an electric bell of suitable construction, which issecured to the upper side of the hinged casing2. Conducting-wires 75 and76 connect the electrodes of said bell with metallic contacts or points77 and 7 8, ex-

tending from the hinged casing 2 and adapted to engage contactsprings 79and 80 upon the The contactspring 79 is connected by an electricalconductor 81 with the binding-post 68, and the contactspring 80 issimilarly connected by a conductor 82 with the binding-post 66. Thebinding-post 68 is in electrical connection with the metallic contacts71 and 71, and the latter is connected by a conducting-wire 83 with oneof the electrodes of a push-button or circuit-closer 84, the otherelectrode of which is connected by conducting-wire 85 with the conductor86, which connects one electrode of the circuit-closer 73 with one poleof the battery 7 2. The other pole of the battery is connected, aspreviously described, with the contacts 69 and 69, which latter is inelectrical connection with the binding-post 66, thus completing thecircuit of the bell 74'. It will thus be seen that by operating thecircuitcloser 84 the alarm-bell 74 may be sounded oractuatedindependently of theactuating mechanism of theindicator-operating mechanism.

Upon the endless scroll or apron 10 the names of the stations are to beprinted or inscribed, first in regular succession and then in inverseorder, in order that the said scroll or apron may continue its operationfor a round trip withoutbeing rewound. At the end of the round trip thescroll or apron will have been unwound from the roller 9 upon the shaft5 and wound upon the roller 9 upon the shaft 6. To rewind the scroll orapron upon the former roller, the lever 61 is first actuated so as tothrow the arm 59 out of the pat-h of the escapement-fan, at the sametime operating the rock-shaft 54 so as to throw the hammer 56 out of thepath. of the perforations 63 in the apron. The clutch-collar 21 is thendisengaged by means of the lever 25 from the transverse pin 20 in theshaft 5, thus permitting the latter to be freely revolved. The windingis performed by means of a key fitted to the post 17, carrying thespur-wheel16, which engages the pinion 15 upon the said shaft 5. Thelatter is thereby rotated, and it will be seen that by the act ofwinding the apron upon the roller mounted upon the shaft 5 therollermounted upon the shaft6 islikewise rotated in a reverse direction,thus transmit ting motion through the train of gears 43 to the mainarbor of the spring-motor, the spring of which is thus wound.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawingshereto annexed, the operation and advantages of my invention willbereadily understood. At the start the scroll or apron is wound upon theroller mounted upon the shaft 5. When the train reaches a station, thecircuit-closers 73 and 84 are operated, thus sounding the bell 74 andactuating the electro-magnet 48. By means of the armature of the latterthe rock-shaft 54 is operated, as above described, thus withdrawingahammer 56 from the perforation 63, in which it rests, and at the sametime throwing the lever-arm 59 out of the path of the escapement-fan 35.The spring-motor is thus caused to operate the shaft 6, winding thescroll upon the latter until the hammer 56 engages the next perforationin the scroll. The rock-shaft 54 is then restored to its originalposition, thearm 59 is moved into the path of the escapement-fan, andthe operation ceases until the electric circuit shall again be closedwhen the next station is reached. The names of the stations inscribedupon the scroll are visible through a glass pane in the front side ofthe hingedv casing.

By placing the indicator-operatin g mechanism and the alarm-bell inseparate circuits it is obvious that the said alarm-bell may. be soundedfor any desired length of time without danger of causing the scroll tobe wound upon the roll of the upper shaft 5 for the space of more thanone station.

In some cases I may put the electrical connections in each car, and thusdispense with the use of couplings between the cars; also, I may useexactly the same apparatus, but dispense with the electrical connectionsand 0perate the same by hand for use on tramways.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. In a station-indicator, the combination of the shafts carrying thedrums or rollers, a spring-motor, a train of gearing connecting thelatter with one of said shafts, a spur-wheel mounted upon theotherroller-shaft and connected therewith by the clutch mechanism, a train ofgearing connecting said spur-wheel with an escapement-fan, a rock-shaftprovided with a bent arm extending in the path of said cscapement fan, ahammer mounted upon said rock shaft, the endless scroll mounted upon therollers and having perforations to receive said hammer, and anelectromagnet the armature of which is adapted to actuate saidrock-shaft, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. In a station-indicator, the combination of the rollers, thespring-motor geared to one of the said rollers, an escapement-fan gearedto the other roller, the scroll or apron having perforations registeringwith the names of the stations inscribed thereon, a rock-shaft having ahammer adapted to engage said perforations and a bent arm extending inthe path of the escapement-fan, the leaf -springs arranged to hold thescroll in contact with the said hammer, and the electro-magnet thearmature of which is adapted to actuate the rock-shaft, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

3. I11 an electric station-indicator, the combination of the rollers,thespring-motor geared to one of the said rollers, an escapement-fan gearedto the other roller, the scroll or apron having perforations registeringwith the names of the stations inscribed thereon, a rock-shaft having ahammer adapted to engage said perforations and a bent arm extending inthe path of the escapement-fan, an electro magnet, as 48, the armatureof which is adapted to actuate the rock-shaft, an electric bell, as 74,mounted upon the casing of the indicator, and devices for closing thecircuits of the electro-magnet 48 and the belt 74 independently of eachother, substantially as set forth.

4. In an electric station-indicator, the combination of thesupporting-piece 1, having the eyes or perforations 69, 70, and 71 linedwith metal, so as to form electrical conductors with the metallicsupports 69, 70, and 71, and the electrical conductingwires connectingthe latter with the electric generating-battery and the circuit-closersand the former with the electrodes of an electro magnet adapted toactuate the indicatoroperating mechanism, and with those of an electricbell,substantially as herein shown and specified.

5. The combination, with the supportingboard 1, having thespring-contacts 79 80, of

the hinged casing 2, having the contact-points 77 and 7 8, saidspring-contacts being connected with the poles of a battery and saidcontact-points being connected with the electrodes of an electric bellmounted upon the hinged casing, whereby by closing the said casing thecircuit of the electric bell shall be made, substantial] as set forth.

6. In a station-indicator, the combination, with the drums 9, havingcut-away sides, as herein described,andprovided with the heads 11, ofthe L-shaped cam-plates connected pivotally with the said heads and thescroll or apron provided at its ends with binding-strips, substantiallyas and for the purpose herein set forth.

7. In a station-indicator, the combination of the rollers, thespring-motor geared to one of said rollers, an escapement-fan geared tothe other roller, the scroll or apron attached to said rollers, havingthe names of the stations inscribed thereon, first in regular and thenin reverse order, and provided with perforations registering with thenames of the stations, a rock-shaft having a hammer adapted to engagesaid perforations and a bent arm extending in the path of theescapement-fan, and an electro magnet the armature of which is adaptedto engage the rock-shaft, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

8. In a station-indicator, the combination of the roller-shafts,aspring-motor, a train of gearing connecting the latter with the lowerroller-shaft, an escapement fan, a train of gearing connecting thelatter with a spurwheel mounted upon the upper roller-shaft andconnected therewith by a clutch mechanism, apinion mounted upon theopposite end of the upper roller-shaft, a spur-wheel mounted looselyupon a post adjacent to the upper roller-shaft and meshing with thepinion upon the latter, a ratchet-wheel secu red upon saidpost andengaging a spring-actuated pawl pivoted upon the spur-wheel, and ascroll or apron wound upon and having its ends connected with the shaftsupon the two rollers, whereby by rotating the post adjacent to the upperroller-shaft the scroll may be wound upon the said upper roller-shaftand unwound from the lower roller-shaft, from which motion is therebytransmitted to the spring-arbor of the motor, causing said spring to bewound, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my ownI have hereto afiixedmy signature in presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE H. KIRVVAN.

WVitnesses:

ERNEST V. JACKSON, '1. R. PETERS.

IIO

